Saturday, February 5, 2011

American 'Jihad Jane' faces life in jail after admitting terror plot to kill Swedish cartoonist

An American woman who called herself 'Jihad Jane' online pleaded guilty today to her role in a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had offended Muslims.

Colleen LaRose, 47, helped foreign terror suspects intent on starting a holy war in Europe and South Asia, prosecutors said.

LaRose, who also was accused of using the online screen name 'Fatima LaRose,' has been in custody since October 2009 and faced a possible life sentence under charges in a four-count indictment.

Speaking clearly but quietly, LaRose said today she had never been treated for any mental health problems and was entering her plea freely.

 Colleen LaRose known as 'Jihad Jane' was indicted by U.S. authorities March 9, 2010 for planning deadly attacks in Europe and South Asia

 Change: Colleen LaRose is due to reverse her plea to terrorism charges to guilty




She whispered a few comments to her lawyers, some of them prompting a smile from public defender Mark T. Wilson.

In 2009 Colleen LaRose was accused of conspiring with Islamists and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war.

The 47-year-old from Michigan is planning to plead guilty at a special hearing in Philadelphia later today, according to her lawyer, Mark Wilson.

'She is going to plead guilty,' Mr Wilson said on Friday, according to CNN.com.

LaRose was indicted as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who, in 2007, depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog.

She was arrested in October 2009 in Philadelphia while returning to the U.S..

The accused, also known as Fatima LaRose, posted a YouTube video in 2008, saying she was ‘desperate to do something’ to ease the suffering of Muslims, according to authorities.

There were allegedly five other co-conspirators involved, however they have never been named by the government.

In addition, LaRose, who has spend two years in jail since being arrested, has been accused of lying to a federal agent and attempting identity theft.

If she is found guilty of all the charges against her, she faces a sentence of life in prison.

Mr Wilson continued: 'I share the same hope that she does, that she will be out of jail sooner than later.

'She will do time [but] she's been doing remarkably well, considering the circumstances.'

According to a source cited by CNN.com LaRose has been held in a detention centre and has been isolated from other prisoners since October of 2009.

Further, she is only allowed one hour a day outside her cell.

LaRose spent most of her life in Texas, where she dropped out of high school, married at 16 and again at 24.

After a second divorce, she followed a boyfriend, Kurt Gorman, to Pennsylvania in about 2004 and began caring for his father while he worked long hours, sometimes on the road.

In 2005, she swallowed a handful of pills in a failed suicide attempt, telling police she was upset over the death of her father - but did not want to die.

As she moved through her 40s without a job or any outside hobbies, Gorman said, she started spending more time online.

Though he said he did not consider her religious and she apparently never joined a mosque.

LaRose and Gorman shared an apartment with his father in Pennsburg, a quaint if isolated town an hour northwest of Philadelphia.

Just days after the father died in August 2009, she stole Gorman's passport and fled to Europe without telling him.

From June 2008 to August 2009 she allegedly went online to recruit male fighters and women with Western passports to marry them.

She also sought to raise money for the holy war, it is claimed.

E-mails recovered by authorities allegedly show correspondence between LaRose and a man in South Asia whom she planned to marry after he said he could deal bombs and explosives.

He also told her in a March 2009 e-mail to go to Sweden to find the artist, it is claimed.

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